#Freelance bookkeeping business full

Orderly books can help your accountant identify opportunities for tax breaks and write-offs. Together, you can discern ways to mitigate your tax liability. You can prevent this by meeting with your account quarterly, armed with up-to-date books. Many freelancers who pay their estimated taxes on a quarterly basis are surprised to find they still owe more at year’s end. You’ll be able to see which clients are your biggest money makers and which you may want to cut loose.

Off the top of your head, do you know what your revenue was last month or what your operating costs were? Do you know your bottom line? A bookkeeper can provide accurate and up-to-date books and help you see trends that may point to changes you need to make or places where you need to tighten your belt. You’re Not Really Sure How Your Business Is Doing A bookkeeper can make sure your books are locked and loaded for the handoff to your accountant - and they’ll typically do it at a much lower hourly rate.Ĥ.

#Freelance bookkeeping business full

If you show up at your accountant’s office with a box full of receipts and a pile of statements, you’ll pay for them to spend numerous hours reconciling your books before they even get to filing your taxes. Yet, in their scramble to get ready for tax time, many freelancers have their accountants do things that are really a bookkeeper’s responsibility. There are differences between the two, including a huge variation in cost. There’s a common misconception that if you have an accountant, you don’t need a bookkeeper. You’re Paying An Accountant To Do Bookwork A bookkeeper can pick up these tasks so that you can tie each transaction back to a particular client, spot cash flow issues before they worsen and ensure you’re not missing important payments.ģ. This method is a recipe for disaster as you can easily lose track of key transactions and find yourself scrambling to recreate them after the fact. But in my experience, many freelancers take the unwise and risky approach of letting their receipts, statements, invoices and bills pile up without ever really recording them. You’re Running Your Financials Out Of A Shoeboxĭepending on the nature of your business, you may need to record your financial activity on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis. That’s a lot of time and attention diverted from your core business and things that can move it forward, like prospecting and sales development.Ģ. If you're spending significantly more time than the average person, it might be time to bring in help. For business filers (including freelancers), that number almost doubles to about 24 hours. The average person puts about 13 hours towards their taxes each year. According to the entrepreneur mentorship organization SCORE, 40% of small businesses say that accounting and bookkeeping are the things they dread most about running their business. Are you pulling together your tax paperwork at the last minute? If so, you’re not alone.